My Rock
by Annabel Lee 1849
Summary: When the apocalypse hit and Daryl couldn t find her, he assumed that she was dead. Little did he know that someone very dangerous had taken her. A few days after she escapes, they find each other. Daryl is furious that someone hurt her, but hides it for her sake... at least for a while. Rated for references to abuse/ rape, some language, and maybe sexual material later.
1. Chapter 1

Daryl, Glen, and Maggie were on the way back from a run to get "Lil' Asskicker" some more formula when she ran out in front of the car. Glen slammed on the brakes and Daryl had to drive on the other side of the road to avoid rear-ending him. Maggie and Glen jumped out of the car with guns raised as Daryl put the stand down on his bike. He glanced at the woman as he did this and quickly saw that she was unarmed, though she was dragging an enormous duffle bag. She looked like she`d been badly beaten, she was covered in blood, and when Daryl turned and got a good look at her, he could see her ribs through the tears in her shirt. She held her hands up and tried to say something between sobs, but was too hysterical to actually communicate anything. She clearly wasn`t a threat though, so Daryl walked over to her with his crossbow still hanging on his back. As he got closer he saw her start to tremble, and when he reached toward her, hoping to get her to calm down and stop hyperventilating, she whimpered and took several steps back. Now that he was finally face-to-face with her, he recognized her.

"Clara?"

At hearing her name, the woman seemed to snap back to reality. She stared at him for a few seconds in disbelief before asking, "Daryl?" He simply nodded, seeing her start to recognize him. Before he saw it coming, she had launched herself toward him and wrapped her arms around him. It scared him to feel how light she was. She clung to him as though her life depended on it, but he could tell that there was no strength in her embrace at all. She`d always been tiny, and probably weaker than most, but nothing like this.

Finally, Glen spoke up, "We have a save place. Come back with us. It`s not save here in the open."

Clara nodded; she released Daryl from the vice-grip like hug, but still clung to his arm tightly. She smiled at him. "Can I ride with you?"

"Hop on."

* * *

When they finally got to the prison, Clara had become much more weak. She took a couple of steps away from the bike before she collapsed. Daryl caught her and carried her inside. She seemed to weigh nothing in his arms, and he had to take a breath to keep his cool. He was terrified that she was going to die. He didn`t really understand. Sure, he understood the bruises. There`s nothing strange about being a little beat up during the apocalypse. But before all of this happened Clara would go live in the woods for weeks at a time. She`d go with just a knife and a bow, and if anything she usually came back looking healthier than when she went. She shouldn`t have gone hungry. She knew how to survive out there.

Hershel was looking at Clara while the others talked. Daryl had already decided that she was staying. No one had argued with him about it. In fact, they seemed more interested in being nosey than finding out if she was dangerous. At 5 foot nothing and literally skin and bones, she didn`t seem like a big threat. But when they snooped through the duffle bag they found something bizarre: her bow, some arrows, but mostly books.

"She carried at least fifty pounds of books with her... no food or supplies. Is she crazy or something?" Maggie asked.

Daryl shook his head, "That bow and arrows is all the supplies she needs. She knows how to live in the woods. Always loved it... The books is typical for Clara. Smartest person I ever knew. Most them science books and how-to books. She probably get more use carrying them 'stead of fifty pounds of food."

Glen shrugged. It made sense- with walkers swarming every town, a good hunter would have an easier time finding food than books.

Carol smirked at Daryl, "So how do you know her?"

Daryl looked at the floor, "She was my girlfriend. Lost her when all this started. We looked for her for a while but when I couldn`t find her I figured the walkers got her." He felt horrible now that he knew that he`d left her to deal with the apocalypse by herself. At the same time though, he was overwhelmingly happy. After he`d lost so many people, it was a nice change to get someone back.

Hershel left the cell where Clara was staying. He gestured to Daryl to come talk to him. The others respected the private conversation, even though they were all dying to know about this girl. Hershel moved away from the cell door and the others and talked to Daryl in a quiet voice, so no one else would hear.

"Walkers didn`t do this to her. Neither did being out there alone. The bruises are from someone beating her. She has marks from being whipped with a belt and some burns from cigarettes. I think she should tell you the rest when she`s ready, but she`s pretty shaken up. Might be a good idea for you to stay with her for a while, to help keep her calm. She doesn`t seem comfortable around anyone else."

"I`m gonna fuckin' kill whoever did this," Darly mumbled through gritted teeth. He kicked a couple of things that were laying around before Hershel spoke more harshly.

"The last thing that woman needs right now is more violence. You`re the only one she feels safe around at the moment - don`t scare her by acting like this."

Daryl thought about it for a moment, then nodded and headed into her cell.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey princess," Daryl said from the door of her cell. She smiled at the nickname. When he first used it it`d been an insult. After that it was mostly because it was ironic. She had gotten into an argument with Merle and said some pretty harsh things. Daryl figured, from her clothes and the college applications in her hand, that she was some spoiled brat who`d always been treated like a princess and just thought she was too good for people like Merle. He found out differently when they got teamed up to do a project together.

_"Sure your mommy and daddy want someone like me comin' over princess?" he said with a glare._

_She just rolled her eyes, "Just be at my place at six. And leave your crack at home with Merle."_

_"Fuck you bitch." Daryl had never touched drugs. He didn`t even like the way he acted when he was drinking, so he rarely did that either. But he wasn`t about to share any of that with _her_. She practically shoved the piece of paper with directions to her house at him and walked away._

_When he got there at six he was shocked to see her 'house.' It was in the middle of the woods, with no driveway or anything, and it was practically falling down. He recognized the place. Merle and his friends used to come here to get high before Merle got his own place. It was an old hunting cabin with a dirt floor, maybe two thirds of a roof remaining, the other third covered with a blue tarp, a blanket hung for a door and one over the window, which was just a cut out hole in the wall. One room, had to go to the water pump about half a mile away for water. He just stood staring in shock for a minute or two. He was expecting a nice big house with expensive cars in the driveway._

_"Like what I`ve done with the place?" she asked bitterly, knowing what he`d been expecting._

_"... are you just squatting here or something?" She just glared and didn`t answer him. She just wanted to get a good grade on this project because she was counting on a full ride to college, or else there`s no way she could afford it. "Where're your folks?"_

_"Just shut the hell up and come inside," she snapped, walking ahead of him into the cabin._

Daryl came and sat down next to her. "How ya feeling?"

"Hungry as all hell, but Hershel says I gotta start eating slowly so I don`t get sick."

He nodded, then took a breath before asking the thing that he really wanted to know. "What happened to you?"

"The apocalypse," she said simply, but he could tell by how she was looking away from him that she wasn`t being honest. She`d been a terrible liar since the day he met her, and he if weren`t so worried he would`ve smiled because that hadn`t changed.

"You know how to hunt. You wouldn`t be starving if it was just from being out in the woods. Clara, I can see your god damn ribs!" Daryl was letting his anger seep through. He saw her eyes fill with tears and thought about what Hershel said. "A'rite, we`ll talk about it later. Scoot." he motioned for her to move over on the bed before getting in with her. He hated sleeping in a cell, but he remembered how she used to have nightmares about what her adoptive father did to her whenever Daryl wasn`t in bed with her. He figured the nightmares must`ve come back after what she`d gone through.

She turned and looked up at him, "I love you," she kissed his jaw.

He wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head on his chest, "Get some rest."

She smiled, he`d never said 'I love you' to her, but she knew that he did. He just wasn`t one to be so openly emotional.

* * *

When she finally woke up it was around noon the next day. Daryl was still lying next to her but was wide awake.

"You din't have to stay here all day," she mumbled, still half asleep.

Daryl just shrugged. He didn`t tell her that every time he got up, he`d hear her start to scream in her sleep. She would just tell him to go about his day and let her have nightmares. (_"They`re only dreams Daryl,"_ she used to say, _"Not like they can hurt me. This isn`t Nightmare on Elm Street."_) She never wanted to be a burden.

She smiled and sat up. Before he knew it she was kissing him, running her fingers through his hair. "I missed you so much," she whispered, "I didn`t even know if you were alive or not."

He swallowed the lump in his throat. He felt so damn guilty. "I looked for you. When I didn`t find you I figured you were dead... Where were you?"

Clara just shook her head, dismissing the question. "I`m starving. Is there any food in this place or are we going hunting?"

"No," he answered, letting her ignore his question for the time being, "We don`t have to hunt, at least not for the next couple of months. Let`s get you some lunch."


	3. Chapter 3

Daryl let out a deep laugh, which brought everyone's eyes to him and Clara. Clara had insisted on eating as much as she could, and Hershel had just came over to remind her to take it slow. The look she gave him when his back was turned was priceless. Daryl hadn't even realized some of the things that he missed about her, but that look reminded him of when they first met. It was the look she got when she was deciding whether to fight over something or let it go. Even though he was bigger and stronger than her, that look used to strike fear in him. And, for some reason, he had missed it.

* * *

_Daryl sat on a rug on the floor of Clara's cabin, just watching as she pulled out books, folders, color-coded notebooks… She was talking nonstop about something, maybe the project? Then she stopped talking, and she got that look on her face that she had just before she'd flipped out on Merle._

"_Are you even listening to a God-damned thing I've said Dixon?" she demanded, staring him down._

"_Relax there princess, I'm listening. I just don't care," he lied, putting a false smirk on his face._

"_Yeah?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_What'd I just say?"_

_He hesitated, almost admitted that he didn't know. But then he saw a smug look on her face and he couldn't let her win. "You said, 'blah blah blah, nerdy stuff. Please sleep with me, Daryl.'"_

_She looked at him with 'the look,' as he later named it, on her face for a few seconds. He tried not to squirm as he waited for a reaction. Finally, she laughed hysterically, and it brought a smile to his face, even as he was trying to be an ass._

* * *

She smiled at him, distracted by his laugh. He briefly thought about how he'd just saved Hershel. As everyone turned back to what they were doing, she leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. He kissed her head before looping his arms around her. She leaned into him further so that he could hear her whisper, "Let's go back to bed."

Daryl didn't really think about it, but got up right away. She laughed at him, "Eager?" His ears and cheeks turned red briefly, but he forgot his embarrassment when she stood up and led the way back to the cell. Daryl hung a sheet up for privacy as soon as he walked into the cell.

She stood on her toes to kiss him. Usually when they were together it was rough and lustful, they both took what the wanted from one another. Clara was surprised when Daryl gently lowered her to the bed and kissed her softly. It was one of the few times in their relationship when they 'made love,' insteading of 'fucking.'

Afterwards, Daryl held her in the possessive way that he always held her after sex. These were the moments that let her know that he loved her, even if he never said it. He held her tight, kissed her neck, shoulder, back, and anywhere else he could reach. Daryl had never been one to talk about feelings, but his actions and his body language made it clear that she was important to him, that she was his, that he would protect her…

Daryl shifted so that she was on her back next to him, so that he could see her face. He ran his fingers across her cheek and into her hair.

"I wanna know what happened," he mumbled roughly.

She just shook her head, "I don't wanna talk about it, Daryl. People are scum… What is it about me? What do I do that attracts these people to me?"

"You didn't fucking do anything," he growled, "Ain't your fault." She had the broken tone in her voice again, the one that he hated. That sound in her voice had always enraged him.

* * *

"_So why exactly are you livin' in this dump?" He'd been coming here for a few weeks now, and she hadn't volunteered any personal information about herself at all._

"_Thought I told you to mind your own damn business."_

"_You did, but there's gotta be some reason. Are your folks really that bad?"_

"_Just shut the hell up."_

"_Or maybe you're just a spoiled brat who has a temper… that sounds about right."_

"_I told you to shut up," her teeth were gritted and her fists clenched. And Daryl simply couldn't resist pushing it._

"_Was daddy mean to you princess?"_

_He smirked, and she got 'the look' on her face, but only for a fraction of a second. And then she was pummeling him. She slammed her fists into his chest over and over, but soon realized that it wasn't hurting him and aimed for his face instead. He tried to tell her to stop, to move away, to push her back. Eventually, he grabbed both fists and pushed her back against the wall of the cabin. She struggled with him for a minute or so before she realized that she was pinned. And when he saw the look of pure terror wash over her, and felt her start to tremble, he knew exactly why she was living here. He let go and she moved away from him as fast as she could._

"_Just get out," her voice sounded broken, even though she was trying to sound strong, to demand that he leave._

_Daryl just nodded. He went for a walk around the woods. She caught up with him a little while later. He didn't turn to look at her, but he stopped walking._

"_Look, I'm-" He turned to her and cut her off with a kiss. _

_The idea of her saying 'sorry' under the circumstances made him sick to his stomach. She had never apologized before, and he knew that she was apologizing now because she was ashamed. Daryl wasn't one for the touchy-feely, 'it wasn't your fault' conversation, and he'd been meaning to kiss her anyway. In fact, each day when he went to the cabin, for a while now, he planned on kissing her, but he always lost his nerve._

* * *

She didn't respond to him, just cuddled into his chest and pretended that she wasn't crying. He could feel the tears on his bare chest and wanted more than anything to track down whoever had hurt her. And then a terrible thought entered his mind: she had always refused to tell him anything about her adoptive father… maybe it was the same guy who had hurt her the first time.

He took a breath and put on a fake calm for her sake, "Clara?"

She sniffled, but quickly pulled herself together, "Yeah?"

"Was it the same piece of shit as before? The guy who adopted you?"

She seemed unsure if she wanted to answer him or not, but eventually she nodded. His grip around her tightened and she saw the rage on his face.

"I'm gonna fuckin' kill him," he muttered.

She used to argue with him when he said that. This time she simply didn't respond. He wasn't a killer, she knew that by now.


	4. Chapter 4

_A few weeks after that first kiss, Daryl knew he was in trouble. Dixon men didn't feel this way about women. Dixon men slept around and got drunk, they didn't give a shit about anyone but themselves… But Daryl had it bad for this girl and he knew it. _

_After having a few too many beers one night, he stupidly talked to Merle. Merle hadn't even known about this girl before Daryl slurred practically everything to his asshole big brother. Merle had surprised him by actually sounding like he gave a crap, even though the advice was the typical fucked-up stuff that Merle always came up with._

"_Man, some dude raped your girl and you gonna let 'im get away with it? You a fuckin' pussy! Go slit the god-damned guy's throat!"_

_In Daryl's current state, he took this as a challenge. He and Merle, both drunk out of their minds, trudged up to the cabin around three in the morning. Clara woke up before they got inside, they were being so loud. She pushed her make-shift door aside and looked to see what all the noise was about._

"_Daryl? What're ya doing?" she sounded confused._

"_Hey, baby," he smiled and leaned against the outside of the cabin, since he was about to lose his balance._

"_Come to find out 'bout yer daddy," Merle said, sounding far too eager._

_She looked to Daryl accusingly, "What'd you tell him?"_

_Daryl kissed her on the cheek and walked inside, "Told 'im everythin'. We gonna go kill the bastard. Ain't nobody gonna touch my girl and get away wit' it."_

_She simply rolled her eyes at him, dismissing what he'd said, "How much have you had to drink?"_

"_That ain't got nothin' to do with it!" he vaguely registered that he was yelling._

_She shook her head, "We'll talk about it in the morning."_

_Daryl would've just left then if Merle hadn't been there to challenge him. "I get it now… She's the man in this relationship, huh Darlena? You just a pussy, can't even keep your bitch in line."_

_And that's when Daryl turned back to her from the doorway, "Why don't ya just tell me where he is so I can go take care of it?" But it wasn't really a question, it was a command._

_She tried to push him the rest of the way out of the door. He turned her around and held her against him with one arm, "I wanna know where to find this piece of shit and you gonna tell me."_

_She tried to get out of his grip, but wasn't having much luck. Merle laughed, "Come on there sweetie, we just tryin' to help ya."_

"_Daryl, I swear to God, if you don't let go of me right now, we're done."_

_Merle laughed again, "Oh, she's begging."_

_But even as drunk as he was, Daryl heard the fear in her voice and let go of her. _

"_Get outta here, Merle." It took some shoving, and Merle called him a pussy a few more times, but he got Merle to leave._

"_Clara, I'm-"_

"_What? You're sorry? What the hell is wrong with you?" She wouldn't even look at him, and his heart ached. What had he just done? That was the day that Daryl quit drinking. It was also the last time he talked about finding her father; he was too ashamed of himself to bring it up again._

* * *

Clara was slowly starting to get back to her old self. She had been practically demanding sex from Daryl multiple times a day (not that he minded). Lately she was always the dominate one when they were together. He let her feel in control, figuring that she needed it. It was, however, interfering with him getting things done.

He'd be out at the fence, killing the walkers, and she'd come over and slip her hand into his pants. She tried to be somewhat discreet about it, but obviously wasn't too concerned about other people seeing. Daryl, on the other hand, felt uncomfortable with the possibility of someone seeing. He would usher her into the nearest empty building, cell block, or guard tower, and she'd be undoing his pants before he could even get the door shut behind them.

But other than the recent obsession with having sex with him, she was turning back into the genius engineer who he had come to love before all of this started. She had a ton of new plans and designs for securing the prison. She talked about eventually getting electricity and things like that, but insisted that the prison wasn't safe yet. She had become somewhat close with Michonne, and had found out about how Michonne had used two walkers to her advantage when she was out there. And that became a central part of the plan.

First, she insisted on covering the inner fence, so that the walkers couldn't see them inside. That was a relatively easy thing, but she still had Daryl working on it for the entire day. Over the next week, she got the rest of the group involved. The children and people who weren't skilled with walkers were locked into the cell block for the day, and the let a few walkers at a time into the prison yard. Once the arms and jaw was removed, the walker was moved in between the two fences, where the other walkers could see them from outside. Eventually there were enough of them dispersed around the fences all around the yard.

The effect was almost immediate: almost no walkers pushed against the fence anymore, and none of them growled. Clara went to the council, demanding that runs be limited and noise be kept to a minimum until the small herd outside dispersed. It took almost a month, but most of them moved on. Everyone thought that the problem had been solved, but Clara kept pushing until there were several layers of protection around the prison: a huge ditch surrounded the fences, even in front of the entrance. She had designed what was essentially a draw-bridge for when they went on runs. Inside of that, there were wooden spears pointing out, even though no walkers had managed to breach the ditch. Now she was designing a stronger, reinforced wall that would be put up inside of the fences, just in case.


	5. Chapter 5

When the dispute with Woodbury started, she had designed explosives and planted them about two miles up the road, and demanded that there were people out there keeping watch 24/7. There was an uproar, everyone outside of the original group insisting that she only had the power to make these decisions because she was sleeping with a member of the council. It enraged Daryl, but Clara insisted that he keep his cool.

"It's turning into something political. You flying off the handle isn't going to help my cause any."

The dissent got so bad that it threatened to tear the group apart. It got so bad that Daryl worried for Clara's safety, and started acting as a round-the-clock bodyguard. She scoffed and told him that he was being ridiculous and dramatic, but she was proven wrong not even a week later.

She and Daryl were walking around the perimeter, checking each layer of protection, like they did every other morning. Daryl stepped off to pee, and as soon as he was gone the shit hit the fan. A group of three guys came over, screaming about how she was risking their lives by putting them outside of the prison to keep watch. Daryl started back in time to see one of these guys take a swing at her.

"Christ," he muttered as he took off in a sprint. Daryl threw the guy that had hit her to the ground and started beating him. When he let the guy up, all three of them ran off.

"God, Clara," he helped her up, "Are you ok? God damn, I told you it was dangerous!"

"I'm fine, Daryl. Just take it easy." But he rushed her to Hershel anyway. Clara had never seen him in such a panic. He didn't act like this when he fought walkers or people. But the fact that the threat was inside their walls was killing him.

The next two weeks were brutal. Daryl literally didn't leave her side for a minute anymore. He insisted that she come with him if he had to pee, even followed her into the bathroom! The strain on their relationship was just starting to become unbearable, when Woodbury came to attack. The spotters outside of the prison saw the tank and blew it up before it got anywhere near the prison. Without that to worry about, the battle was an easy win. The governor was killed in the explosion, and the entire problem seemed to go away overnight. After that, the dissenters changed their minds about her. Daryl and Clara quickly become celebrities in their little community. Children were "honored" to shake Daryl's hand. Teenagers copied Clara's outfits and hairstyles.

Neither one of them were crazy about all of the attention, but at least Daryl felt like he could stop playing bodyguard. Their relationship finally started to even out. And now that the prison was safe, Clara turned her attentions to making the prison into a real community. They slowly but steadily cleared the rest of the prison, rebuilding and protecting the areas that had collapsed. And Clara started working on plans for solar panels and possibly wind mills.

She didn't come to bed until after midnight one night; she'd been busy working on plans. She walked in and saw that Daryl was still awake.

"You didn't have to wait up."

He just shrugged. She smiled and undressed as she walked over to the bed. The sheet had become a permanent fixture on the cell door several months earlier. Clara pulled Daryl to his feet, which wasn't the usual lately. She liked to be on top now. He kissed her as he pulled his shirt off and she undid his pants.

"Daryl?"

"Mmm-hmm?"

"I want you to fuck me."

He smiled. Daryl had decided to let her take control for as long as she needed, but he had missed how things were before the apocalypse started. He kissed her one last time, then turned her around and pushed her into the wall of the cell. He held both of her wrists behind her back with one hand, and started up the harsh pace that she always used to love, and was rewarded with her moaning. He tangled his other hand in her hair, and roughly pulled her head to the side so that he could leave marks on her neck. Daryl hadn't really been into being this rough until the first time they had angry sex, and he found out that she loved when he was like this with her.

The next morning she was cuddled up against Daryl in bed, asleep. Daryl was awake, but she was still having nightmares if he wasn't with her, so he stayed put. Daryl thought that he was imagining things when he heard Merle's voice at first, but Hershel was inside the cell a few minutes later, speaking in a panic. Merle had overdosed apparently, and was having a seizure. Clara got up and rushed out with Daryl right behind her.

Merle didn't look good, but he was conscious. "You ain't dead?" he asked Clara.

"No, sorry to disappoint."

Daryl saw the split second of hurt in his brother's face. Before, Merle had felt some weird sort of protectiveness over Clara, which was not like Merle at all. When they thought that she was dead, Merle had grieved almost as much as Daryl did, he just did it by taking dangerous amounts of drugs instead of being emotional. Daryl wondered if Merle actually cared about how happy Clara made his little brother, but that never seemed to make sense to him; Merle didn't worry about anybody but Merle.

"Yeah, what a bummer," Merle said sarcastically. He pulled a pill bottle out of his pocket, and Clara took it from him immediately. "Don't be such a fuckin' bitch!"

"Sit down! Are you outta your mind?"

"Tryin' to be."

Daryl pulled Clara and Hershel out of the cell. Before Merle could react, he slammed the cell door shut and locked it.

"What the fuck?" Merle slammed his hands into the bars over and over.

"Time to detox," Daryl said. He'd seen his brother go through detox several times before and knew that he would get violent or leave if he had the opportunity.


	6. Chapter 6

Over the next week, Daryl and Clara took turns watching over Merle from outside of the cell. Some of the others in the group would occasionally take a turn too. Merle had gone from pissed to out of control after the first two days. He jumped up on the cell bars and used his whole body to rattle them while he screamed curses and slurs at anyone who he could see.

Unfortunately, he was in an upstairs cell and could easily see everyone below when they stepped out of their cells. Rick had suggested moving him, but Daryl told him that someone would get hurt if they did. During one of Clara's shifts, he brought up her adoptive father, saying any terrible thing that he could think of to make her breakdown. She didn't tell Daryl, knowing how he would react, but when Rick relieved her in the morning, she went straight to the showers and sobbed.

It took a few more days for his anger to subside; it was quickly replaced by severe depression. Merle didn't get out of bed, didn't speak, didn't eat. He didn't even use the toilet unless someone else suggested it to him. When it was Clara's turn to sit with him, he whispered an almost inaudible, "I'm sorry," which took Clara by surprise and worried her a little bit. Nevertheless, she accepted his apology.

By the end of the week, Daryl decided that Merle could come out of the cell when he or Rick were around. One more week and he stopped locking Merle's cell all together.

Merle found Clara a few days later, sitting at a table in the prison yard and working on some kind of engineering plans. He sat down next to her and tried to get on her nerves for a while. He didn't get a rise out of her though, and was about to leave, but stopped halfway out of his seat. Clara glanced at him and saw a huge grin on his face.

"What?" she snapped.

Merle grabbed her arm and pushed her sleeve up. "My brother do this?" Clara was confused for a moment, but she looked down and saw the bruise around her wrist. She blushed and Merle laughed hysterically. "Damn, you a kinky bitch, huh?" He sat back down and kept at it for a while, until Daryl walked up and Merle turned his attention to him. Daryl just told him to fuck off and sat down on the other side of Clara. Merle actually walked away, but only after getting in a few more insults and crude remarks.

"Whatcha workin' on?"

"Planning the prison community. I'm trying to think of what we need and make areas for all of it. I got material lists for a doctor's office that can also work as an emergency room, two classrooms, a winter storage area for food… a bunch of stuff. We're gonna have to start going on runs to get it all."

"A'right, I'll get a group together for tomorrow."

The next day they split into teams, each team having a specific area to get supplies for. Merle and Daryl were going work together, but Merle took a swing at Daryl over something stupid and Clara quickly stepped in and told Merle that he was coming to get the medical supplies with her. It wasn't going to be fun, but Clara knew that Merle would only give a crap about either her or Daryl. He might end up getting somebody killed if they teamed him up with anyone else. When they arrived, she told Merle to keep watch while she started gathering the essentials. She'd filled two bags of supplies when a walker grabbed her. She tried to pull away but wound up tripping over something and falling back, with the walker on top of her. Merle used his knife hand to kill the thing.

"You bit?"

"No, but I think I might've broke my ankle. Help me up."

Merle pulled her to her feet, but she immediately cried out in pain and started to fall back. Merle cursed and complained about it, but he scooped her up and carried her back to the truck.

"Listen, I only need a few more things. Can you just get some stitches, Tylenol, gauze, and a few thermometers?"

"Fine, but I ain't unloading all this crap later, so don't even ask me."

He turned to walk away and she almost let him. She'd been hoping to sneak the last item on her list into her pocket and keep Merle out of it all together, but she figured she didn't have an option now. And if her ankle really was broken, she wouldn't be going on another run anytime soon. So she reluctantly decided to ask Merle.

"Merle?"

"God damn, what now?"

"And grab a pregnancy test."

Merle's eyes went wide for a second before he answered, "Shit, a'right, and I'm getting you twenty boxes of condoms while I'm at it. You and my brother are fuckin' stupid as shit!"


End file.
